//------------------------------// // P - 3 - The Border // Story: Metro - Lavender Exile // by Wreck //------------------------------// -One day Later- "So Stalliongrad allows this many races to live in its territory?" Twilight asked. The time with the pair of ponies was becoming quite comforting. Twilight was still amazed by the inventions that Stalliongrad apparently had for many years, for example: "Cars" - metal chariots that had an engine in place of carriers, but they use fuel so they need to be refueled from time to time; "Planes" - metal / wooden vehicles that allowed for any non-flying species to fly at high speed. Two main types are supposed to be "Jet" and "Propeller" Planes. "Machinery" - metal machines that apparently could help anypony in their work. For example, those "assembly lines" made this "Production on Mass" possible. "Hand Gloves" - This got Twilight's attention. Aurora explained that "Hand Gloves" work the same way as griffon claws, but much more co-ordinated. It helped many in Stalliongrad with their daily work, Military has its own version for Soldiers since they use a completely different set of weapons than Equestria. The civilian population has normalized versions that are mass-produced. Apparently, in Stalliongrad few started considering having those gloves as parts of them and started using them like it's natural. The Hand Gloves allow for species such as Ponies, Changelings, Buffalo to operate and work in delicate fields of work, It also allows for said species to walk on their hind legs and use their front legs as sort of arms. (like griffons and dragons have) "Ah yes, this topic is well known. Since the creation of Stalliongrad, its main purpose was to unify anyone that wished to work for the good of all. Quote "One for all, All for One" is quite appropriate. Well, the multi-species nation could be a problem if there weren't any laws regarding everybody. Oh that brings another thing, Twilight dear you should get used to saying every-body instead of every-pony, etc." Aurora responded. Twilight started thinking about this. A nation where everypo- everybody could be regarded as equal race, a nation where advancements made everyone equal at their lifestyles, a nation that she never heard of. . . Why? "I still don't know about one thing. How come Stalliongrad could be such a great nation while also no one wrote about it back home. It's just-" Twilight started but she got stopped as Aurora raised her hoof. "It seems we are in a bit of a history lesson. Well, it all started around 800 years ago, but no one really knows. But back then just after the last of the lunar rebels were defeated, many saw how Celestia banished her Sister and any other radical that supported her to the moon. It made several beings think 'If we tried to show our independent thinking, would we be banished like Princess Luna?'. back then everyone still remembered that Luna was the second ruler of Equestria. She wasn't Equal Ruler as Celestia told once. Now think that that made few think 'What if we didn't have an immortal ruler, and had someone normal as a leader, someone who knew how we feel, how our hardship leads to many things.' So then it happened that many of those ponies gathered in the city of Stalliongrad, but back then it was known as Princessyn. Most notable Pony from the Revolutionary Movement was Steel Stallion. But even before him, such Beings existed that questioned the rule of immortal rulers. Such was Caramel Marks, who created the theory for a new kind of worker's state where everybody would be given equal opportunities, and everybody would receive everything according to their needs. Princessyn back then was a region that was very badly treated by the Royalty. Continued famine, Epidemics, harsh treatment if "peasants" didn't work, and so on. Civil unrest grew, leading some ponies to question the basis of the Immortal Monarchy system. After years of preparation and making contacts with other groups that had identical ideas and grouping them all in Princessyn. Then one night around 731 years ago the spark of revolution slowly became visible. The royals in Canterlot became very aware and ordered a crackdown on revolutionaries and other protestors. The crackdown only leads to bigger unrest. At some point, the population broke and was enraged at Royalty and their actions. So they took action and rose up against the oppressor. That moment when the last of royal guard was defeated in the area was known as December Revolution month of bloody fighting and proclaiming their independence as a state. Back then Revolutionary Movement already had a few of the advancements that were expanded to this day. Crossbows against spears, the first Hand-Gloves that allowed Ponies, Changeling, and few Buffalo to fight the same way as Griffons. The Equestrian Guard moved in full strength to crush the uprising, and a brutal grinding week of combat ensued. Princess Celestia, appalled by the violence and spiraling disaster, withdrew all Equestrian forces and fired the Captain of the Guard, effectively conceding to the revolutionaries. Shortly afterward Steel Stallion died of illness and the capital of the region - Princessyn, was renamed to Stalliongrad in his honor. With Steel Stallion dead, the revolution elected ponies to a Supreme Council - a committee of representatives of the workers. Two ponies and their ideas came to dominate the Council - Altidiya Revoltsova and Vasiliy Pentsushenko. They have created a constitution that was followed for so many years that even today many of their rules have been kept. To this day the nation not only survived but also has beaten most of the nations on Equus in many areas. Thus this made many of the local powers angry and looked at Stalliongrad as a sort of rival. Equestria still censors the existence of Stalliongrad to point of telling ponies that Stalliongrad is part of Equestria, which did result in few border skirmishes for many years." Aurora explained. Twilight felt as if she was back in school, she felt nice from that. Maybe new life in Stalliongrad isn't going to be that bad. True there are rules that she was going to follow but it wouldn't be that much of a problem. -Meanwhile In Ponyville- In the Sugarcube Corner, 3 Ponies sat in a small group. An Orange mare approached them. "Found anything?" Applejack asked. The trio at the table shook their heads. "No dear. Spike told me that the library was the same as they left. It's completely unlike Twilight. She would make so much preparation just to read a book. But this..." Rarity responded. "Mhm." Dash agreed. Ever since the wedding day they have searched for Twilight but nothing could be found, Spike and 3 friends went back to Ponyville to see if she was there, rest stayed back in Canterlot. It's been at least 2 days since they have last seen Twilight when she tried to warn them about the imposter that was Cadence. The doors got opened by a familiar alicorn sister, behind her two friends of the group. "Princess Luna!" The trio moved towards the Princess. "We bring news from Canterlot! Our sister has found two guards that reported that she left the City back then and went to the train station. After our sister visited the said station we finally have a lead!" Luna was obviously happy to help. After she listened to their side of the story she wasn't very happy with the five-element bearers. But as she reminded that "not everypony is perfect" and after that conversation, she was fast on finding clues on Twilight. "So? Do we know where Twilight went?" Dash asked. Luna had a smug grin. "Yes! From our visit to the train station, it appears she has taken a ride two days ago to-" "-Stalliongrad. Miss Twilight took the first train on the departures and it's the Canterlot - Stalliongrad Train." The royal guard officer finished his report. Celestia frowned. It's the first time in the last 400 years since she heard that name. "*sigh* Is their diplomat or representative available?" Celestia asked. The guard officer tilted his head. "Uhh no? What does Princess mean diplomat? Aren't they part of Equestria? Just sent a letter to local royal guard garrison to stop your student when she arrives." The Guard officer suggested. 'Oh right. The royal houses started censoring anything about Stalliongrad from the beginning of its existence. And after an -amount- of skirmishes on the border they stopped sending any diplomats saying "If you want to talk to us, then start by acknowledging our existence. Until then we won't exist for you." *Groan* Why something always comes back to bite me back in the flank when I expect it the least.' Celestia thought. "Captain, there are things left forgotten in history. Stalliongrad was *clears throat* thrown into the forgotten mess that Royal Houses have created." Celestia stated. "Princess, please. If you could you would have them disbanded in a whim of a hoof." The officer stated. "If only I could Captain Spear. But as we all know. . . This got out of hoof ever since the second generation of royal houses was born. Send a message to the nearest guard company. Tell them to contact the nearest Stalliongradian border post." Celestia sighed. This week isn't the greatest in her long life. -Sometime later in train- Twilight yawned. Somepony was nudging her. She opened her eyes and saw Star nudging her while Aurora was in deep thought. "What's going on Star?" Twilight asked. "Well after you told mama that you are moving to Stalliongrad and you left behind your previous life you probably don't have any idea what to do once you get there." Star explained. Aurora noticed that Twilight was now awake. "Ah, darling you are awake. I have been thinking for the last few hours. Since you will need time to get used to laws and also be able to find a home and work quite early I might have a suggestion. You see my little Star is still young and requires a caretaker. I will need to go back to work soon and having someone I could trust would be great." Aurora stated. Twilight was searching for words for her response. Being a caretaker of a child, somepony she once had ... Cadence. "But what about living space? And-" Twilight started rambling with nervousness. "Twilight dear, I will take care of most starting problems. And I already can see that you would make an excellent caretaker for Star. As you have already shown you not only showed him kindness but also I can see the look on your face when you are near him. You look at him like an older sister could for her little brother. That already tells me that you care about him. And caretaking won't be much of a trouble, Star is quite intelligent for his age. He could also introduce you to few things on how Stalliongrad works." Aurora explained as she gazed at Star who currently was in the corridor of the train watching the passing forest. Twilight was astonished by how much Aurora knew. Twilight felt the same warmth that kept her going in her studies back when she was a filly in Canterlot. "Thank you. I don't know much about caretaking but... I'm going to try." Twilight decided. Aurora smiled and looked at her. "There's the courage you needed in the last two days. We should be soon stopping at the border station." Aurora stated. Twilight tilted her head. "Why?" Twilight asked. Why would we stop at a border station? "Oh right. You never went anywhere beyond Equestria right?" Aurora asked. Twilight shook her head. "Well ... Dragon lands count as beyond Equestria right?" Twilight asked. "Technically Dragon lands are in Union with Equestria, which means they are in the same nation. Let me explain, when traveling between nations there are guard stations that check your identity, to make sure you aren't illegally traveling. Like spies, thieves, bandits, etc." Aurora answered. Twilight slightly cringed. "Uh. Am I gonna be in trouble?" Twilight asked. "You bought the ticket? *Nod* You still have the ticket? *Nod* Then you have nothing to worry about. Well, there will be a small stop since you will need a small explanation about a passport that you clearly don't have." Aurora stated. Twilight slightly relaxed but then she looked again confused. "What's a passport?" Twilight asked. "*sigh* This is gonna take a while to explain." Aurora sighed. -Later- "-wich allows for easy identification of where you were and where are you heading while also keeping the officers from asking about your life for Faust's sake. I was caught once without a passport and tell you what, it took six hours before they confirmed my identity." Aurora stopped her long explanation. "Right. So by all that I should keep my passport close to me all the time right?" Twilight asked. "All the time when you are traveling or going on official things like applying for a job, asking the bank for an account, and more." Aurora corrected. The trains started slowing down. "Ah, we reached the border station. Star come we need to register Twilight." Aurora stated. Star yawned since he slept through most of the ride. As they exited the train Twilight noticed that the guards as Aurora once explained had those hand gloves for everyday use in the military. But between explanation and seeing the actual thing, it was a completely different experience. Hearing about it was amazing, seeing it for the first time was astonishing. Seeing how a pony could stand on hind legs while having some sort of ranged weapon in his front legs. It reminded Twilight how Griffons have crossbow companies, but Stalliongrad apparently has much more advanced types of weapons. At least that's what Aurora explained before. The next thing that took Twilight's mind was how casually a unicorn, a changeling, and a griffon talked to each other while having some sort of drink. In Equestria seeing this sort of meeting is only between some kind of royal and diplomat etc... but here it looks like its normal small talk between each of them. If Equestria is supposed to be the center of harmony where everything works in harmony... Then why are ponies so much against living with ... Well, any other being. Twilights memories came back regarding few moments : Appelosa and the Buffalo Pony conflict. Ponyville treating Zecora and Gilda as some kind of barbarian and witch. 'Wait Gilda brought that on herself.' Twilight thought. But the point is still there. After seeing those events and comparing them to this one scene in front of her... It was just unbelievable. As they entered the small line of other beings that were going through the border to Stalliongrad one of the officers, an earth pony with blue fur, silver mane/tail, looked at Aurora and walked towards the trio while waving one of his le... Hand Gloves. "Aurora! It's good to see you again. How's Been? I wondered how long it would take for you to come back, especially now." Stallion greeted with a very weird accent. "Hey, Sky Diver. Cousin Been is fine. How are things here?" Aurora responded. Sky only sighted and looked slightly exhausted. "To be honest, ever since this weird earthquake, the entire nation is in a small panic. Command made border patrols more vary of any Equestrian guards, the Council is trying to calm the situation while also trying to continue their new problem about the Former Crystal Empire territory, and now add the .. sorry can't tell it out in the open." Sky explained. "Uncle Skies!" Star half-shouted and hugged the stallion. "Fangy come here! *Garbs him* How is my little Fangy doing?" Sky asked. "Cousin Been was just awesome! He showed his new hydro-on-something. But it was fun! The sea looked so vast!" Star answered, to that Sky only chuckled. "Glad to hear it Fangy. Now I see you have an additional pony in your company. Who shall start the Introduction? Me or you?" Sky asked Twilight. Aurora looked at Twilight. "I think I'll start. My name is Twilight Sp- *clears throat* just Twilight. I'm from Equestria, but I'm moving to Stalliongrad, and Aurora already gave me a proposition where I can work. So I can both work and get accustomed to ... Well, everything." Twilight answered. Sky rubbed his chin. "My name is Sky Diver. Don't bother asking why I have a name that fits more to a Pegasus than an earth pony. My parents are very into flying planes, so they thought that I could go on the family's track in working in aviation. Well, turns out I couldn't be a pilot, but it just so happened that the military was searching for volunteers for their Third airborne battalion. So here I am an airborne soldier put on ground border station. Twilight you are in big luck. Aurora here rarely gives a job to anyone, especially anyone from outside of borders. But since you are here and Aurora doesn't object, then I must welcome you to the Gazers family." Sky tapped Twilight's shoulder. "What do you mean by Welcome to the Gazers family?" Twilight was confused. "Oh, mama did you tell her about the tradition?" Star looked at Aurora. Aurora was in deep thought, then she face-hoofed. "*sigh* I forgot about that." Aurora muttered under her hoof. Twilight was more confused. "It's an old tradition in Stalliongrad. When someone leaves their country leaving behind everything to come and join our nation if you are proposed a job that allows you to live in the same house as the employer and when the job is very important like a guardian, caretaker, or even shopkeeper. And if you accept it works as an adoption document, but more bonding and less paperwork." Sky answered. Twilight looked at the trio ponies with an open jaw. "D-D-Does t-that mea-" Twilight started but got stopped my Star who landed on her back. "Big Sister Sparky!" Star hugged Twilight. Twilight was... Not sure about it... She felt her heart stop and her mind just crashed. Her jaw almost hit the floor. "I uh... I.. I just... Wha?" Twilight began to stutter. "Twilight dear, don't worry about passport, Sky here already made one after I told him your side of the story." Aurora stated. Sky started walking to another room. "Aurora come. I need to finalize few details for Twilights passport." Sky stated. Aurora started walking towards him but then stopped. "You two wait here. Don't cause trouble. And Twilight, sorry for not telling you. *Nervous smile*" Aurora stated. Twilight stood there with her mouth gaping while Star smiled on her back. Aurora and Sky went inside a smaller room.